Rangers have been described as one of two “quantum leaps” for disruptor brand Castore as they hope to dig into the global sporting clutch of Nike, Adidas and Puma.
The Gers signed a deal with Castore in the summer of 2020 and since then the British retailer has gone on to sign deals across the top leagues in Europe.
These include Premier League outfits like Wolves, Newcastle Utd and Aston Villa, with deals also struck with Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla, Genoa, Feyenoord and Athletic Bilbao.
But according to a recent feature by the Athletic, it’s the contract with Rangers which helped Castore take the next step in their development with an initial partnership with Sir Andy Murray also attributed as a monumental step.
“Murray’s endorsement, turning down bigger offers from far more established sports brands to assume a creative role in the design of Castore’s tennis range and wearing it on the court, represented a transformational boost,” write the Athletic.
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“It also provided the foundation for the next quantum leap in the company’s rise: the brokering of a five-year kit deal with Scottish giants Rangers in 2020.”
Castore admit Rangers shortcomings
Speaking to the outlet, Castore co-founder Tom Beahon also admitted that the retailer underestimated the take-up from the Rangers support amid their mid-Covid launch.
The deal has been a fruitful one for all involved, with Rangers signalling the end of retail turmoil with Mike Ashley and Sports Direct by announcing the deal.
But it was a risk for all involved, including Castore who got a rude awakening into the football market when they signed on the dotted line at Ibrox.
“We launched the partnership during COVID and the world was so crazy,” Tom Beahon says.
“You could get a call from your factory on a Tuesday saying, ‘Those 250,000 units we told you would be there by Thursday will no longer be there’.
“Like anything, you adapt and find solutions to the problems, but we certainly took some bruises along the way. We were like a youth-team player who got promoted to the first team very quickly.
“The feedback on the designs themselves was positive, but we had a number of challenges getting the volume of kits into the market. I don’t think anything could have prepared us for the avalanche of demand from the Rangers fans.
“They’re known for having a massively passionate fanbase and we experienced the full force of that. We ordered what we thought was a really good number of shirts that would satisfy demand for the first six months of the partnership, and when we’d sold out in a matter of hours we realised we might have underestimated… that was a classic example of, ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’.”
The comments come at an interesting time for Castore, who are eyeing fresh investment as they look to take the next “quantum leap” in their development.
According to reports, the business is looking for £166m of fresh investment as they target global domination, with claims that this could take Castore’s valuation to £1bn in only a matter of eight years.